The Rotary Foundation - PolioPlus

The mission of The Rotary Foundation is to enable Rotarians to advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through the improvement of health, the support of education, and the alleviation of poverty.

The Foundation is a not-for-profit corporation supported solely by voluntary contributions from Rotarians and friends of the Foundation who share its vision of a better world.

PolioPlus

In 1985, Rotary launched its PolioPlus program, the first initiative to tackle global polio eradication through the mass vaccination of children. Rotary has contributed more than $1.3 billion and countless volunteer hours to immunize more than 2.5 billion children in 122 countries. In addition, Rotary’s advocacy efforts have played a role in decisions by donor governments to contribute more than $9 billion to the effort.

The Global Polio Eradication Initiative

The fight to end polio is led by the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, which includes Rotary International, UNICEF, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and governments of the world, with the support of many others around the globe.

Nigeria One Year Milestone

Friday, 24 July 2015 marks one year since Nigeria last reported a polio case caused by the wild poliovirus.

This is the longest the country has ever gone without a case of polio, and it’s a critical step on the path toward a polio-free Africa. It was only a decade ago that polio struck 12,631 people in Africa in one year —three-quarters of all cases in the world.

August 11 will mark an even greater milestone: one year since the last case of polio in Africa. For Africa to be certified polio-free by the World Health Organization, it must go two more years without a case of polio. To do this, all children in Nigeria must continue to receive the polio vaccine, including those in hard-to-reach and underserved areas.